Google Glass to help cops in Dubai

Dubai police intend to equip detectives with Google’s wearable tech.

As part of Dubai’s plan to make its police force one of the “smartest in the world” by the year 2018, the emirate’s police department wants to provide beat officers and eventually detectives with Google Glass, enabling its law enforcement officers to run customized facial recognition software.

Facial recognition technology could help fight crime.

According to Reuters, a police spokesperson from the most populous city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), confirmed that Dubai police developed the software and would permit a link between a database of wanted people and the wearer. Essentially, as soon as the wearable device recognizes a suspect via the facial recognition technology, the wearer of the optical head-mounted display is alerted.

Colonel Khalid Naser Al Rzooqi, the director general of Dubai police, informed 7DayinDubai that “The software that we developed internally enables us to connect a database of wanted people with the glass.” He added that “Once the glass recognizes the suspect based on a face print, it will give an alert to the officer wearing it.”

The gadget featuring the software is to be introduced gradually in phases. The initial phase would focus on combating traffic violations and tracking vehicles that are suspected to have been involved in driving offenses. The second phase would involve having the technology issued to detectives.

Google Glass isn’t cheap but Dubai is willing to spare no expense when it comes to its police force.

Glass is a costly gadget that sells for $1,500 in the United States. This makes the device far out of the affordable range for the average consumer. However, Dubai is determined to equip its law enforcement with the device. In addition, more businesses are beginning to warm to the idea of using this innovative wearable, which is also beginning to be used in hospitals.

Despite many people being worried about their privacy when Google Glass is worn in public, as the concern is a Glass user could be secretly taking photos or videoing a person without their consent, if policemen were to wear it, the purpose would be to help officers collect information during an investigation.

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Amanda Giasson

With several years of experience in freelance writing and editing, Amanda Giasson enjoys using her talents as a news writer to report on the diverse and intriguing topics happening within the mobile technology and mobile commerce industries. Follow Amanda on Google+